Purple, Orange and Green

"Schnebly Hill Chasm"
9x12, pastel

I remember reading somewhere that the triad of secondaries makes for the most pleasing color harmony because the natural landscape consists of orange, green and purple. This wasn't on my mind when I painted the picture above, but in retrospect, I unwittingly used this triad. Most likely, it's because I painted what I saw.

My secondaries run from the pure hues to neutrals and in a variety of temperatures. It'd be a good quiz for students to see how many they kind find. (Any takers?)

This was painted during late morning at Schnebly Hill, when Munds Mountain is backlit. The chasm in the foreground is part of a wash that runs into Bear Wallow Canyon. The rock ledges are steep and dramatic - worth exploring, for sure.

This ends my "pastel" week. Next week, I'll have oil painters for the mentoring workshop - painters that want to work LARGE. One of them has ordered 3'x4' canvases!